The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. They were one of the two main Powers World War I. Although, they were defeated by the Allies. They originated with the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879. The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria hadn’t joined until after the war had started in 1914. They were also supported by Azerbaijan and Finland, as well as Lithuania in 1918 and co-belligerent Jabal Shammar.
Central Powers
For around two and a half years, Woodrow Wilson tried to keep America neutral during World War I. Once America finally decided to join the war on the Allied side in 1917, Wilson had already allowed large-scale loans to Britain and France. However, Germany had offered a military alliance with Mexico in the Zimmerman Telegram. When America found out, it made them furious and gave them a national reason to fight. Fighting was also justifiedy when German U-boats started sinking American ships in the North Atlantic.
The name “Central Powers” came from the fact that all of the countries were in between Russia and France and the United Kingdom, which was known as Central Europe. The war was actually sparked by a move from the Serb nationalists against the Central Powers. The Black Hand gang assassinated Austria-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in early July 1914. The Central Powers mobilized around 25 million soldiers. About 3.1 million were killed in action and another 8.4 were wounded.
